The second game of the Pathfinder Bank Oswego State Hockey Classic came down to the final seconds after Oswego State nearly witnessed a 3-0 lead evaporate in the third period.

The rematch of the 2013 National Championship saw the No. 5 Oswego State Lakers end its three-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over the No. 4 University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds. UW-Eau Claire was able to come within one in a third-period comeback that just fell short in a thriller of a contest between two teams that don’t play each other very often.

Oswego State got off to another solid start that helped get the team and the rest of the crowd into it early.

It all started with the line of Cameron Berry, Chris Waterstreet and Mitch Emerson. That trio started the game and was flying from the onset. They pinned the Blugolds in their own zone and put them on their heels to start.

“It wasn’t that we started poorly against Williams or Nazareth,” head coach Ed Gosek said postgame. “We came out with good jump and energy, we just had nothing to show for it. And tonight, we were able to get the one and we weren’t in a situation where we were chasing the scoreboard.”

The Lakers have failed to score the first goal since the second-straight win over Morrisville State on Dec. 3. After a scoring change corrected the original ruling, Andrew Barton was credited with the opening goal. The senior centerman was able to deflect Stephen Johnson’s shot from the far-side circle to open the scoring at 12:27 of the first.

Oswego State controlled most of the first period, but with around 1:45 left showing on the clock the Blugolds turned on the jets. The UW-Eau Claire forecheck came alive as they pestered the Oswego State defense. David Jacobson stood tall and made some big saves to cap off his nine-save first period.

The Blugolds could not sustain the same attack that put the Lakers on their heels to end the first during the second period.

UW-Eau Claire managed only three shots in the middle frame. Oswego State tallied 10 shots on Jay Deo to lead 20-12 in shots after 40 minutes of play.

“I thought we had better defensive awareness, and we worked harder to get on top of pucks and not let them transition [in the second period],” Gosek said.

Good work defensively helped keep the Blugolds off the scoreboard in the second which led to two power goals from the Lakers to extend their lead to 3-0.

TJ Sneath’s power play marker, and first goal of the season, snapped an 0-8 skid on the man advantage.  Sneath tipped a puck that bounced off the ice and past Deo. The shot came off Chris Raguseo’s point shot after he received a pass from Mitchell Herlihey to help pad the Lakers’ lead a bit to 2-0 at 10:07 of the middle period .

Sneath was noticeable nearly every shift. He played hard each time his number was called and created turnovers, made smart choices and used his speed all night long to be an impact player to help snap the Lakers’ skid.

“It felt good to back out there for sure,” Sneath said. “But at the end of the day, when you’re going through something like we are as a team it’s just good to get in the win column again and look forward to tomorrow.”

“I’m happy for [Sneath],” Gosek said. “He’s paid his dues. He’s been a good teammate and he has an offensive flair to him. Last year, he wasn’t put into that role as a freshman on the fourth line so he wasn’t really in a scoring role, so to speak.”

Late in the second, Matt Galati scored his ninth of the season with his patented one-timer from the dot that just beat Deo. Alex Botten and Kenny Neil were credited with the assists on the Lakers’ second of the period at 18:32 to make it a 3-0 game.

Early in the third period, UW-Eau Claire made it a 3-1 at the 5:47 mark of the final frame.

Todd Koritzinsky put home a juicy rebound off the pad of Jacobson to get the Blugolds on the board. Alex Strand’s shot bounced right to Koritzinsky at the hash marks, and he was able to beat Jacobson as he scrambled into position after making the initial save. David Henry was given the secondary assist on the first Blugold goal.

Entering tonight, the Lakers were 8-0-0 when taking a lead into the final period. With ample time left on the clock, it seemed that the Blugolds had a chance to end that streak.

At the 13:17 mark of the third period, the Blugolds were able to come within one off a deflection in a game that saw plenty of pucks change directions in tight. Patrick Moore tipped Lucas Kohls’ point shot to make it a 3-2 game toward the latter stages of regulation. Tyler Hart was credited with the secondary assist on the Blugold’s second goal of the period.

UW-Eau Claire was officially feeling it and had momentum on their side.

Less than 30 seconds later, Galati was whistled for hooking right off the faceoff. This gave UW-Eau Claire its best chance of the night to tie the game.

The Lakers’ penalty kill gave up five goals against Buffalo State and Williams College, but was 2-2 going into the biggest moment of the game to this point. UW-Eau Claire would end up failing to convert on this man advantage but still had time to try to get a game-tying goal.

“You got to expect some of that,” Jacobson said. “Good teams, they don’t take their foot off the gas. If it’s not going their way, they’ll stick with it. The main thing for us was sticking with it for a full 60 [minutes] today, and I think we did that to a T, and we battled hard. Not much, like I said, you can do on the goals, but overall 110 percent out of everybody on the ice today.”

Deo was pulled with under 40 seconds left in regulation. This left little time for the Blugolds to work with the extra attacker. Botten was able to break down the wing and seemed to have a chance at the empty net, but was tripped up and got back to the bench slowly without a call on the ice.

However, when the play got back into the Oswego State end, Mac Jansen took his second penalty of the period in a battle in the near-side corner. His cross-checking minor also resulted in a game misconduct. This brought the faceoff into the Blugolds’ end and forced Deo back in the net with just 7.6 seconds left.

“We talked a lot this week about whatever was wrong with us,” Raguseo said. “We’re not going to put a word to it, but we’d rather break out of it against a quality team. It just kind of gives us a little more confidence that we still got it. We’re still capable of doing something special here.”

The final shot total was 28-21 in favor of the Lakers as they moved to 11-3-0 on the season. The Blugolds fell to 10-2-3 after this loss in the second game of the Pathfinder Bank Oswego State Hockey Classic.

The Lakers will now take on the Utica College Pioneers tomorrow at 7 p.m. to decide a winner of this weekend tournament.